OCTOBER 2020 PCWorld 81THREE YEARS OF
UPDATES AREN’T
ENOUGH
Google famously promises
Android version and security
updates “for at least 3 years
from when the device first
became available on the
Google Store.” That means
anyone who buys a Pixel 4 will
be guaranteed to get Android
13 when it arrives in 2022.
Apple makes no such
assurance because it doesn’t
have to. iOS 14 has been
released, and it’s available to
both new and old iPhone SE users, even
those who bought their phones in 2016.
That’s a huge advantage for Apple that
Google should match.
APPLE’S LCDS ARE BETTER
THAN GOOGLE’S OLEDS
You don’t need to be a pixel purist to see that
the screens on the iPhone SE and Pixel 4a are
quite different. First, there’s the size, which is
5 inches for the iPhone SE versus 5.8 inches
on the Pixel 4a. You also get a higher
resolution on the Pixel 4a (1080p vs. 720p),
with a higher ppi density (443 vs. 326).
Google uses OLED compared to Apple’s
LCD, which means blacks are deeper on the
Pixel 4a.
Despite all the Pixel’s display advantages
by spec, I prefer the iPhone SE’s display to the
Pixel 4a’s. Whites are brighter, colors are
richer, and True Tone does a fantastic job of
keeping whites balanced. On paper, I want
the Pixel 4a’s screen, but my eyes prefer the
iPhone SE’s.PLASTIC ISN’T SO BAD
The Pixel 4a is the first plastic-backed phone
I’ve used in a while, and I’m smitten. It feels
good, looks good, doesn’t pick up
fingerprints, won’t break when it drops, and
shaves several grams off the weight (143
grams, versus the iPhone SE’s 148 grams).
Apple hasn’t made a plastic phone since the
“unapologetically plastic” iPhone 5c way
back in 2015, but it might be time to give it
another shot.The Pixel 4a and iPhone SE are very similar in size, but the Pixel has a
way bigger screen.